Saturday, June 22, 2013

Cube is the Answer #3 - Put this in your cube and draft it.

Here are a few interesting card recommendations for cube. Please note that I don’t necessarily subscribe to the “strictly better” philosophy when selecting cards. I like unique and/or synergistic cards that have the potential to be game-changers. It’s a lot more fun than limiting yourself to some stock list you found on a website. By all means, look to the masters for inspiration on cube design. In fact, if you’re not reading articles by the likes of Usman and Anthony from The Third Power podcast, you’re doing it wrong. Read up, listen up, and get inspired. Just remember, your cube is your baby. If you want to let that baby fling slimy cheerios all over your friend’s living room, that’s fine. Just have some good reasoning behind it. (Note: if it’s my living room, that baby better be wearing a full set of plate mail, because I will return fire with fucking catapults.)

A lot of cubists have written this guy off as “overrated”, “not good enough”, or “not Primeval Titan”, but I loves me some Ruric. He does everything I want a big dumb creature to do in R/G : attack, block flyers, and hose control players. Think about it. If Fat Ruric can get through just once before your opponent kills him with removal, he just did 12 damage. Hell, even if he never gets through and ends up eating a removal spell, he still nugs your opponent for more than a quarter of his life total. And here is the part everyone forgets: the noncreature spells in question don’t even have to be removal. Rampant Growth? Take 6. Brainstorm? Take 6. Azorius Signet? Take 6. Mox Sapphire? Lol.

The poor man’s signets. Has KevinLoadedDice been drafting your cube? If so, you’re probably tired of ‘tasting the rainbow’. If you want four and five color control to take a chill-pill, replace your signets with these guys. They are still very playable, just a little more fair. Plus the draw ability is really nice in the late game.

I don’t understand why everyone gets butt-hurt over land destruction. Resource denial is and always has been a legitimate part of the game. And in a format littered with dual lands, I’d argue that some form of mana disruption is absolutely necessary. Unless of course you want to watch control mirrors all fucking day. Just look at all these fun Dust Bowl interactions!

Here is green doing something it rarely gets to do - unfair, degenerate shenaniganery. And because it’s in green, you know this card is coming out earlier than turn 4. Hmm…who pairs well with this card?…I can’t quite put my finger on it…

"We've come to dance with your dates".

If you think black is the color of hate in Magic, you’re wrong. White is the color of hate-bears, and this guy is one of the hateyest. Cube is chock full of fetchlands and tutors. In my cube, I like to balance these effects with some good ol’ fashioned hate. And you know who likes to party with Leonin Arbiter?

"Nice fetches, brah."

Mono black aggro is the Jon Snow of cube. Everyone loves to hate it, and no one wants to admit it can be good. Nether Void is black aggro’s Armageddon. Get ahead, drop this, win. ‘Take the black’ just got a whole new meaning…well, besides the title of that movie you hide from your wife.

If your deck runs loads of artifact mana, Sunder can be insane. With a few mana rocks out, this is basically a one-sided Armageddon. Sure, the opponent gets to play those lands again, but he will be so far behind the game will be all but over. It also combos quite well with cards that ask you to discard…

I love Firestorm. A lot. Like, to an unhealthy, obsessive degree. Ever since the days of the original PT Jank, I’ve been addicted to loading up my hand with lands and then skeeting damage all over my opponents’ boards with Firestorm. With any draw effects this card is quite abusive. And talk about value-the amount of damage you get for a single red mana feels like highway robbery. With chase scenes and explosions. And brown-grey. Anyway, here are some cards that play well with Firestorm: